With the publication of Scarlett, the booming business of merchandising Gone With the Wind coasts happily into its sixth decade. That's right — tacky Tara tie-ins have been around since 1939, when advertisements hawked GWTW games, dolls, plates, ties, puzzles, chocolates, lockets, cologne, cups, playing cards, dress patterns, and even nail polish. And in 1989, Tarabilia hit the marketplace again in conjunction with the film's 50th anniversary. Want to create your own collection? Tie-ins to the novel Scarlett are yet to come, but there's plenty of Wind merchandise currently available:
The music box
When you turn the key of Ardleigh Elliott & Sons'
''Scarlett at Twelve Oaks'' porcelain box (which features Scarlett
smiling under cheeks so inflamed they may require first aid) you'll
hear the tinkling of ''Tara's Theme.'' ''Display it in your home'' for
just $34.50, the TV Guide ad suggests.
The cookbook
A facsimile edition of the
Gone With the Wind Cookbook: Famous Southern Cooking Recipes, first
published in 1940, offers recipes rich in tradition, not to mention
enough cholesterol to paint your arteries shut. Feast on such taste
temptations as Tara pork scramble or Tara fruit cake. And why not
wash it all down with Gone With the Wind wine, vintage 1990, made by
that noted Old South vintner Fujisankei? (Available only in Japan).
The smell
Namely, ''Gone With the Wind's Miss Scarlett,'' a 1989
magnolia-scented perfume that is now a collector's item. Not ''cheap
or commercial,'' said a spokesman at the time. Just how not cheap?
Twenty dollars for a 1.7 oz. bottle.
The unspeakable
Visit the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in
Florida, where the Celebrity 5 & 10 offers a spectacularly
embarrassing objet de kitsch for a mere $2.50: the Mammy Hand Fan.
Cool yourself on those sultry Atlanta afternoons with a life-size
photographic replica of Hattie McDaniel's head, glued to an oversize
popsicle stick. Why, it's almost like having her there!
